The 49th Toronto International Film Festival kicked off with the premiere of “The Nutcrackers,” the crowd-pleasing comedy from director David Gordon Green and Ben Stiller in his first film role in seven years.
Stiller’s big-screen return wasn’t the only big return to the Toronto International Film Festival. Star power is back, baby! Last year’s festival was disrupted by labor strikes that left actors and screenwriters on the picket lines and unable to promote their films. So it’s a huge relief not only to TIFF organizers but also to studios and agencies (who in 2023 are tasked with drumming up excitement for films that don’t have many big names in attendance) that A-listers like Cate Blanchett, Lupita Nyong’o, Selena Gomez, Elton John, Ana de Armas, Dakota Johnson, and Mark Hamill are set to descend on Toronto over the next 11 days.
It’s not just Hollywood that brings energy to the Toronto International Film Festival. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a surprise appearance at the premiere on Thursday and was greeted with a warm welcome. He praised the country’s filmmaking efforts and thanked festival CEO Cameron Bailey for “helping”[ing] “Putting Canada on the international map when it comes to cinema, where it belongs.”
Stiller, however, says it wasn't intentional that he took so long away from acting. “It was just the way things evolved,” he said. diverse Before the premiere. For much of the past decade, he focused on directing the 2018 miniseries “Escape at Dannemora” and the 2022 sci-fi workplace thriller “Severance.” However, after strikes forced “Severance” to halt production on its second season, Stiller found himself available to shoot “Nutcrackers” (which received a union exemption to shoot because it was produced and financed outside the studio system). In the film, Stiller plays a hard-nosed, workaholic city tycoon who suddenly becomes the caregiver for his four orphaned nephews living on a farm in Ohio.
Despite a few empty seats in the Roy Thomson Auditorium, the audience was enthusiastic, laughing and applauding the film’s fun family-themed antics, which include poop jokes, a nativity scene that turns out to be very funny, and interactions with various farm animals (including one that will make people look at roast chickens differently). The story takes an emotional turn as the boys put on a dance performance in the hopes of wooing their adoptive parents — though Stiller’s character in the film says this rendition of Tchaikovsky’s Christmas classic “isn’t your grandmother’s Nutcracker.” Their performance, complete with samurai, swords, and whimsical moustaches, highlights the young actors’ ballet skills — and the film’s final scene drew a few misty eyes from the room.
Stiller and his four new co-workers — brothers Homer Janson, Ulysses Janson, Atlas Janson, and Arlo Janson — received a standing ovation during the Q&A session.
“I made a decision a few years ago that I wouldn’t do something unless it really resonated with me,” Stiller told the crowd. “I wanted to meet these young people and be a part of this.”
Green, Stiller and the Young Contributors to “The Nutcrackers”
WireImage
Green, the director of “Pineapple Express” and the “Halloween” franchise, said he got the idea for “Nutcrackers” while editing the sequel to the horror film “The Exorcist: Believer,” which is out in 2023. He turned to his old friend, a film school classmate who worked on his first film, “George Washington,” in 2000, and found inspiration in her four children, none of whom had ever acted before.
“There was a part of me that thought it was time to do something different,” he said. “I challenged myself to make a film that was free of cynicism and brutality.”
Green expressed his desire to see The Nutcrackers in theaters, and Stiller echoed the sentiment, adding, “It's important for us to see a movie like this in theaters. We need more movies like this on the screen. It's nostalgic for us, but it's what people enjoy.”
Stiller then steered the conversation to a major theme of the film.
“I'd like to talk about farting,” he said.
From there, one of the Janson brothers took over, sharing one of his more stinky experiences on set. “I farted for about 20 seconds… I don’t know.”
“It was amazing,” Stiller assured the movie buffs in the room. “This is probably the only conversation we've had about this in the entire festival.”
